


Take it Back

by CastielFollowMe



Series: Single Dad Shiro Verse [75]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-10
Updated: 2018-01-10
Packaged: 2019-03-03 06:22:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13335306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CastielFollowMe/pseuds/CastielFollowMe
Summary: Keith is ready for a drastic haircut. At least, that's what he keeps saying.





	Take it Back

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: "Hello! Would you write teen Keith (14, 15 year old perhaps?) doing a radical haircut and then regretting it right after? And shiro finds some way to fix things up cause he always does ahah. Thank you, and have a good day!"

 

              “Dude, are you sure that this is a good idea?” Lance hesitantly asked. Normally, he was the one person in the group who was down for anything. He was typically the one suggesting crazy ideas or adventures, and the others had to bring him back down to reality. It was unusual to see him hesitant towards any idea but right now he had a feeling that this was a bad idea.

“Of course, it is. You’re the one who’s always telling me I needed a new haircut.” Keith replied blandly.

              “Well yeah,” Lance mumbled, twiddling his thumbs. That part was true. He was  _always_  telling Keith to cut his,  _god-awful mullet._

              “Plus, your sister  _is_  a hairdresser right?” Keith said.

               _In training._  “Yeah.”

              “So why are you questioning this?” Keith sighed, swatting Hunk’s hand away from where it was trying to touch his hair. “I would have thought you would have been the first to offer to cut my hair.”

              “Well, yeah!” Lance pretended to look smug. “But I never actually thought that you’d do this. You were always so stubborn.” He playfully poked Keith’s side making Keith scowl at him from his chair in Lance’s sister’s salon room.

              “Yeah, but it’s boring,” Keith admitted quietly. “I’ve got these stupid braces for another month so I figured why not have a new look when I take them off? That’s what people do right?”

              “Yeah, some,” Pidge admitted. “It doesn’t mean you have to.”

              Keith’s eyes looked away from Pidge and down at his dirty sneaker. Truth be told, the fourteen-year-old was incredibly nervous. He’d never so much as change the style of his clothes, so this was going to be an enormous change for him.

              “Yeah, well everyone already makes fun of me for everything else,” Keith mumbled bitterly. Instantly, Lance, Pidge, and Hunk felt a familiar protective anger for their friend. They were aware of some of the bullying Keith had endured, as was Shiro, and no matter what it always made them angrier and angrier. Keith was temperamental, quiet and often kept to himself, but he was also kind, smart and cared a great deal for his friends. None of them could understand why  _anyone_ would be so cruel to Keith.

              “Maybe with a cool new haircut, they’ll stop,” It was as if everyone’s hearts broke all over again. _Oh, Keith_

              “Are we all set then?” Everyone was pulled out of their somber attitudes when Lance’s sister, Clara, entered the room. She was beaming brightly with her box of supplies in hand and apron already on. Keith swallowed nervously and nodded. “Excellent! So, Keith do you have anything in mind?”

              “Um, well, not really,” Keith said quietly. Pidge felt their heart stutter in their chest and Hunk almost grabbed Keith and threw him over his shoulder with the intention to leave immediately. _He doesn’t want to do this. He doesn’t want to._

              However, to everyone’s relief, Keith reached into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. Upon further inspection, they realized that it was a photo in a magazine.

              “Maybe something like this?” Keith asked quietly. Clara took a moment to stare at the photo in Keith’s hand before nodding with a smile.

              When everyone else saw the photo, they nearly fell out of their seats.

x.V.x

              Keith actually…looked good.

              Lance would never ever admit to Keith that Clara was not a professional stylist, or that she was still in school and training. After all, she’d done a damn good job replicating the look in the photo. The new cut was radical, new and fresh. That was for sure.

              It wasn’t anything anyone had been expecting on Keith, but it looked good.

              Lance whistled loudly when Clara finished blow drying the (much) shorter hair. Keith had been turned away from the mirror and hadn’t been allowed to see the end result until Clara was entirely done. Keith hadn’t even been able to see much of his cut once Clara had cut the hair past his ears. His hair hadn’t been extremely long, only tickling just past his neck, but after seeing that disappear, Keith’s stomach had started churning.

               _A change needed. A change needed._

_Change was necessary._

              “Wow, that sure is different.” Hunk managed to say.

              “I’ll say! It looks fucking awesome!” Lance cried, almost tackling Keith, if it weren’t for a very hot blow-dryer pointed right at him. “I wish mami would let me dye my hair too!” He whined with a pout before flopping back onto the couch.

              “Is it really okay?” Keith twiddled the hair between his fingers. He could only really run his fingers through the top of his hair, as the sides and back were nearly shaved down to his head. From the corner of his eyes, he could see all of the hair that had been cut off and onto the floor. It was a lot of hair.

_A change was needed._

              “It actually is. It kinda suits you.” Pidge grinned while giving Keith a thumb up. Keith smiled nervously at them before nodding. Hunk gave his approval too and Keith finally took a deep breath.

              “Are you ready to see?” Clara asked softly after she put away her supplies. Keith swallowed again and nodded. _It was now or never_. Slowly he felt himself being turned around in the chair until he could see his entire reflection in the mirror.

              Keith regrets his decision.

              It wasn’t that Clara had done a bad job. No, she had done an amazing job and it looked  _exactly_  like the photo that Keith had provided. However, it was just  _so different_  from what Keith was used to. It didn’t look like Keith.

              His hair was chopped shorter than Keith could ever remember. Shaved along the sides of his head and the back of his head, in a similar undercut fashion as his dad. The top of his head was fluffy, with only about a maximum of three to four inches in total length, making it the longest part of his hair now. However, that wasn’t the only significant difference. In an effort to really go from the dramatics, Keith had asked Clara to  _dye_  his hair a brilliant red. It wasn’t a bright, firetruck red (Keith might have actually cried then) but rather a more natural red with hundreds of different shades mixed within his hair. From highlights to darker undertones. Really it was beautiful, but it was  _too much._

              “Keith?” Clara asked when Keith didn’t say a word. By now, all of his friends were worriedly watching for Keith’s expression to change. He hadn’t immediately looked disgusted upon seeing the haircut, but he wasn’t cheering.

              “Uh, buddy, you’re speechless right?” Lance asked softly. Keith gripped the top of his hair.

              “It’s so short.” He whispered. “I’ve never had it this short before.”

              “Yeah, but it looks great!” Hunk attempted to soothe Keith, upon realizing that Keith was only calm right now because he was on the verge of panicking.

              “It’s so red,” Keith whispered hoarsely.

              “Yeah, but red’s your favorite color and you look great in it!” Pidge said quickly.

              “Oh no, oh no, no, no,” Keith mumbled to himself.

              Quickly his friends jumped to his side. “Keith? Keith, it looks okay! You look great! Just like you wanted right?!”

              “Oh no, I take it back. I don’t want. I don’t want this haircut.” Keith continued to mumble, gripping his hair tighter. Clara nervously shifted on the balls of her feet.

              “Oh dear,” She said quietly. “Okay, do you not like the color? Should we change the color back to black?”

              “No, no. I don’t want this anymore. Take it back. Please get it off.” Keith mumbled again.

              “Keith, we can’t just give you back your old hair. Especially the part that got cut.” Lance said quietly. _This had been a bad idea from the start. Why hadn’t they stopped him?_  “You have to let it grow out again. But sis can re-dye it black! I don’t think we can strip all of the colors out right now.”

              “No, no. I don’t want this. I want my hair back.” Keith swallowed thickly. Hunk and Pidge were both trying to pry his fingers out of his hair.

              “Keith! It looks really good!” Pidge said again. “I know you’re just not used to it right now. However, if you give it some time you might come to  _love_  it soon!”

              “It’s too different,” Keith whispered.

              “But that’s what you wanted? Right?” Hunk asked.

              “No. Not anymore.”

              Lance sighed heavily and looked over at his older sister, who looked close to tears herself. He rubbed her arm sympathetically before speaking. “It’s not your fault Clara. Keith wanted to try it and you did an amazing job – Keith even thinks that – but he’s not used to such a radical change. This wasn’t a good idea. We should have just dyed it or only cut it a bit.”

              “I’m so sorry,” Clara said.

              “Can you fix it?” Keith asked hopefully, eyes bright. However, when Clara shook her head, his entire body deflated with defeat.

              “I think, maybe now would be the time to call Shiro.” Lance sighed.

              Indeed, it was.

x.V.x

               _Kids needed to learn from their mistakes._

              Shiro was a firm believer in that thought. He knew that when you grew up, you often had to deal with the consequences or benefits of your actions and that coddling children would never help them. Yet it still never made Shiro feel better whenever Keith had to push through a mistake.

              This mistake was huge though.

              Shiro knew that this was  _Keith’s_ decision to cut and dye his hair.  _Keith_ had chosen to change his hair. _Keith_ had asked Clara. So, in conclusion, the mess that was Keith’s new hair was really his fault. Shiro figured that Keith would have to live with his consequences and realize that cutting and dying your hair could be a huge commitment and it wasn’t something you could simply undo. He only wished that Keith had talked to him beforehand, then maybe this mess would have been avoided.

              To say Shiro was shocked when his son arrived at home, upset and hurting with beautiful red hair that had been styled in a very familiar cut to Shiro’s, was an understatement. Shiro hadn’t even known what to say for a minute before he rushed to compliment Keith’s hair. This was shut down but Keith begging Shiro to fix his hair and for the others to explain that they had already tried complimenting Keith.

              Unfortunately, Shiro did not have magic abilities to make hair regrow overnight. It had been stressful and Shiro had to explain that Keith was going to have to let his hair grow back out and live with the length for now. They determined that the color could be returned back to Keith’s dark black after a couple weeks to give his hair time to settle.

              Keith hadn’t been happy but Shiro stated that Keith needed to live with the decision he had made.

              No matter how sad that made Shiro.

              However, Shiro was about to go against his own philosophies if only to get that dejected puppy look out of Keith’s eyes. Shiro paused outside of Keith’s bedroom (where Keith hid much during these days). He gripped the bag tighter in his hands and shifted the hat on his head. _Here we go._

              Slowly, Shiro knocked. “Keith, can I come in?”

              He heard a quiet mumble on the other side of the door and Shiro signified that as a green light to enter. He made sure to close the door behind him, before settling on Keith’s bed with the bag in his lap. Keith was on his bed, reading some book but his hair was a mess. It was disarrayed and all over the place, but even still with this, the color and cut of Keith’s hair were still incredible to Shiro.

              “How have you been?” Shiro finally asked when Keith put his book down.

              Keith shrugged and rubbed his arms. “Fine. My hair still sucks.”

              “Keith,” Shiro sighed.

              “I know. I know. I made the choice to do this and I should have thought about it when I did this.” Keith resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “I get it, dad.”

              “Well, that’s all true,” Shiro admitted with a soft smile. “You needed to understand that this is a huge commitment and you shouldn’t have done it if you weren’t ready. However,” Shiro changed topics quickly when he saw Keith opening his mouth to speak. “Sometimes things don’t go the way we want it to and it sucks.”

              Keith’s lips twitched upwards.

              “It sucks majorly and believe me, I’ve made a lot of stupid mistakes.” Shiro’s grin widened when he noticed the small smile on Keith’s lips. “I know you’re not used to your hair right now, and we can’t make it grow faster. But that doesn’t mean you have to hate it while you live with it! Which is why I have two propositions for you!”

              Quickly, Shiro reached into the bag and pulled the object out before presenting it to Keith. Keith’s eyes widened to the size of saucers when his fingers hesitantly grasped at the object. For in his hand was a jet black wig, matching the style and cut of Keith’s old hair.

              “What?”

              “It’s a wig,” Shiro said softly. “I asked Clara to style and cut it based on an older picture of you. It’s not perfect but I think it looks close enough to your old hair that you can wear this instead, over your hair. You’ll have to get Clara to show you how to wear it though.”          

              Keith could feel his throat burning and unshed tears filling his eyes. “Dad…”

              “This way, you can be more comfortable when you go out in public,” Shiro explained. Once we can get your real hair back to black, it might be long enough that you don’t  _have_  to wear the wig anymore.”

              Keith stared up at his father in disbelief, thumbs trailing over the wig. He couldn’t believe that his father had done this for him. That despite Keith’s actions, his dad was still trying to fix Keith’s mistakes. _How did I get so lucky?_

              “Thanks, dad,” Keith whispered. Suddenly he frowned and looked up. “What’s the second proposition?” He asked, and his dad’s cheeks instantly heated up.

              “Well,” Shiro scratched nervously at the hat on his head. He paused for a second before slowly pulling the hat off his head. Just when Keith didn’t think that his eyes could get any wider, they did. This time, he did drop the wig to the floor and his throat tightened.

              Shiro ran a hand through his hair which had been cut and styled  _exactly_  like Keith’s haircut, with the only difference being shades of brilliant purples and violets rather than reds in the dye. Some purple strands fell over Shiro’s eyes and he laughed quietly.

              “I don’t think you have to hate your hair while you have to have it.” Shiro admitted. “You don’t have to like it but who says you have to hate it! This way you can see it’s a cool haircut, but I didn’t pick red because that would probably embarrass you if we both matched like twinsies.”

              “Dad,” Keith breathed quietly.

              “It’s just a suggestion. You don’t have to. That’s why I bought the wig.” Shiro picked the wig off the floor and brushed it off. He smiled when Keith looked away. “I just thought that this might help you to like your hair. It looks  _amazing_  on you, kiddo.”

              “Dad, you didn’t have to do this to your hair.” Keith finally whispered.

              “Eh, it’s hair. It’ll grow back. Besides, I’m no stranger to dying my hair.” Shiro smirked, causing Keith to snort.

              “Thank you, dad,” Keith replied, leaning over to pull his dad into a hug. He didn’t move to grab the wig and Shiro sighed happily.

              “Purple suits you.” Keith teased quietly, fluffing up his father’s dyed hair.

              “And red you.” Shiro winked.

              “I like your new hair, but when it grows out, go back to white,” Keith said, causing Shiro to frown.

              “Why?”

              “Because that’s you.”


End file.
